


Lesson Plan

by GoringWriting



Series: IronStrange Bingo 2019 [23]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Bottom Tony Stark, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, Fivesome - M/M/M/M/M, Insecure Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, Multi, Oblivious Tony Stark, Orgy, Polyamory, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Top Bucky Barnes, Top Loki (Marvel), Top Stephen Strange, Top Steve Rogers, Top Thor (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-01-15 04:49:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18491698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoringWriting/pseuds/GoringWriting
Summary: Tony Stark is just a shy kindergarten teacher who loves his class and the school. He likes his coworkers even if they weird. And if you listen to the coffee machine gossip every single male teacher minus Rhodey because Tony is practically his brother are trying to get with him and Tony is simply oblivious.For "Me?" Square of Ironstrange Bingo





	1. Chapter 1

“Welcome Dr. Strange, I must say it is quite an honor for someone of your renown to agree to take over our science classes,” Coulson, Vice President of SHIELD, says leading him through the school.

“I’m happy to lend my assistance but what were you doing before I came?” Stephen asks as kids scurry through the halls trying to make it before the bell.

“Mr. Stark, our Kindergarten teacher has been filling in when his class has Gym, lunch and recess, but many of the science class are when he has to watch his students so we’ve been getting Mr. Rogers the art teacher to fill in for him...It’s been a mess,” Coulson says pinching the bridge of his nose.

“And this Mr. Stark is qualified to teach science?” Stephen says.

“He has like eight official PhDs and the ability to learn anything. He is the most qualified to teach most sciences here alongside Dr. Banner,” Coulson says.

“And yet he is teaching Kindergarten?” Stephen asks and Coulson shrugs.

“He never told me why and I never asked,” Coulson says and they walk through the halls and Stephen hears excited voices a little ways down the hall.

“Okay kidlings, follow the leader. I’m it, first we are going to waddle like ducks. Ready?” Stephen hears a voice say and several excited giggles and as he turns the corner he sees a man, a few inches shorter than him waddling around with a line of kindergartners trailing behind him. Some of which are quacking.

“Hi, Vice Principal Coulson,” the kids chirp at him before going back to quacking.

“Remember guys follow the leader,” the man says staying perfectly still but not looking either Stephen nor Coulson in the eye and the children jump to imitate him making Stephen smile.

“Mr. Stark, this is Dr. Strange. He has agreed to fill in for Dr. Banner,” Coulson says and Mr. Stark smiles and quickly shakes his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tony. And these are my little Ducklings,” Tony says and the kids quack.

“You have multiple PhDs and prefer to be called Mr. Stark?” Stephen asks and Tony’s face flushes.

“W...well Kindergartners don’t really care about things like doctorates and PhDs. And it seem ridiculous to make everyone call me doctor when I don’t even...you know...refer to myself that way. Everyone say hi to Dr. Strange,” Tony says and the kids say hi.

“Please call me Stephen,” He says to Tony who smiles.

“Ah Tony there you are! You left your coffee in the Teacher’s lounge,” A tall blonde man says making the kids jump and some whimper.

“Thor, what have I said about inside voices?” Tony says immediately rubbing one student who is crying’s back soothingly.

God he’s gorgeous. Stephen thinks to himself.

“I am sorry,” The giant...Thor says and kneels down in front of him to look at the children, “hello there. I’m very sorry for frightening you all.”

“See kids, that’s what you do when you hurt someone. You apologize sincerely and let them decide if they forgive you,” Tony says and Thor beams up at him.

“Yes, a very wise lesson from a very wise man,” Thor says and Tony blushes harder.

“I...I...Wouldn’t say I’m wise. Just saw a teachable moment,” Tony says and one of his students tugs on his pant leg.

“Yes Shuri?”

“Mr. Stark I have to go to the bathroom,” she says.

“Alright, show of hands who needs to go?” Tony asks and several hands go up in the air and Tony nods.

“Alright, Thor can you watch the class real quick while I take these five to the bathroom?” Tony asks and Thor nods and sits down on one of the tiny chairs that are clearly too small for him.

“Mr. Thor? Do you have a sibling?” one of the small children asks.

“Why yes, do you know Mr. Loki?” Thor asks and they nod.

“He’s my little brother,” Thor says.

“But he’s not little?” One of the kids says.

“What he means is I am his younger brother,” another voice says and Stephen looks behind him and sees a tall dark haired man coming down the hall.

“Hi Mr. Lokes,” the kids say and Loki smiles. 

“It would seem that Mr. Stark’s nickname for me has become quite popular,” Loki says.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Coulson asks.

“I am on my way there now. I wanted to get a new book for my class to read,” Loki says motioning with the book under his arm.

“Mr. Coulson please come to the office,” the PA announces and Coulson looks at Stephen. 

“Go on. I will wait here,” Stephen says and walks briskly down the hall.

“Thor, your intentions are getting quite obvious. Tony has his coffee cup on his desk in his classroom,” Loki says too low for the children to hear.

“As are you getting obvious. Is your class and the library for that matter not on a different floor than this one entirely?” Thor asks.

“I had something I wanted to give to Mr. Rhodes,” Loki says holding up a set of keys.

“How many tries did it take for you to lift those?” Thor asks.

“None, I found them in the bathroom,” Loki says glaring and Tony comes back with another coffee in one hand and Thor’s in the other.

“Why do people keep giving me coffee?” Tony asks.

“Who gave you the other cup?” Thor asks.

“Bucky,” Tony says blushing and a thin but muscular sandy blonde man comes out of the stairwell with yet another cup of coffee which he goes to hand to Tony who is starting to look overwhelmed.

“I will help you carry them Tony,” Thor says at the same time Loki and the sandy blonde make the same offer.

“I will help Tony, you three should go to your classrooms,” a man in a wheelchair says and Tony seems to visibly relax. 

“Thanks Rhodey,” Tony says and hands one of his coffees to the man and then starts walking down the hall again, the man Rhodey by his side, and Tony’s students follow him into a classroom with a nice big robot on the door and smaller ones, that look like each of the kids made one, around the door frame. Stephen smiles and then notices Loki, Thor, and the sandy blonde man are staring at him.

“What?” Stephen asks.

“You are interested in him as well aren’t you,” Thor says.

“I just met the man,” Stephen says.

“And yet you were watching him leave like the sun was going down,” Thor says.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Stephen says and sees Coulson coming back down the hall and watches the three men take off towards their classes.

“I hope those three weren’t bothering you too much. They can be quite obsessed with Mr. Stark. It’s quite stressful for the man because he doesn’t seem to understand what it is they want,” Coulson says and shows Stephen to his classroom which has a view right into Tony’s classroom and Stephen spends much of his down time watching Tony handle his class. The kids seem to love him and he seems to care about them.

He’s able to see what the other teachers were talking about. There is nothing more he wants to do than get to know him.


	2. Chapter 2

“Now for our first lesson I believe we will make a circuit to make a light bulb go on,” Stephen says and one of the students raises their hands.

“Yes Alexander?”

“Mr. Stark already taught us that,” the fourth grader says and the other kids nod their heads.

“Well then, you should be able to do it,” Stephen says and there’s a knock on the door Stephen looks up to see Tony standing there. 

“Give me one moment and I’ll hand out the materials,” Stephen says and opens the door.

“Hey...I just realized that I should have given this to you this morning but with all the coffee craziness...well you saw,’ Tony says and hands Stephen a piece of paper that outlines all the lessons Tony handled teaching.

“Thank you. This is very useful. Would you like to sit and watch?”

“Thanks but I can’t Rhodey is watching my kids for me and I have to relieve him so he can catch a nap before these guys have to go back to him,” Tony says motioning to the class who are chattering amongst themselves.

“Does he often hide in your classroom?” Stephen asks and Tony’s mouth quirks up.

“Every day since we started working here,” Tony says.

“How long have you worked here?” Stephen asks and Tony shrugs.

“Fifteen...maybe sixteen years,” Tony says and Stephen blinks.

“Did you always want to be a teacher?” Stephen asks.

“I…” Tony starts to say but is interrupted by a voice.

“Tones, your kids are getting restless without you,” the man in the wheelchair, that Stephen now knows is Mr. Rhodes, calls from the door to Tony’s classroom.

“Coming Honey bear!” Tony says and Stephen’s eyes widen.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you and he were…” and he trails off when Tony starts laughing.

“We’re not. Rhodey’s like my brother,” Tony says and Stephen can feel the man in question watching him like a hawk and it’s unnerving but Stephen is used to pressure, he can handle a stair. 

He thinks.

“Anyway I gotta get back to my ducklings,” Tony says and heads back to his classroom.

“Mr. Doctor Strange? Can we wait a minute before we start the lesson?” one of his students asks and he’s about to ask why when he hears piano music, soft and light, filtering through the hall coming from Tony’s classroom.

“I love when Mr. Stark plays the piano,” one of the kids say and Stephen’s eyebrow quirks up. It seems like Tony is full of more surprises than he lets on.

“I like it better when he sings,” another student says and just as she says that Tony’s voice starts coming down the hall.

“Mr. Doctor Strange...you can’t tell him that we can hear him or he’ll stop doing it,” another kids says and Stephen bites his lip. On the one hand he wants to be able to hear Tony sing and play but on the other hand if the man really is that shy then he'd be mortified to find out that people were listening to him sing and play the piano.

“Alright, if you all behave and do your homework I won’t tell him,” Stephen says and pretends not to notice the line of teachers, some not even from this floor, at the water fountain. It looks like nearly every teacher is there minus the office staff and the fifth grade teacher Miss Romanov. Stephen can't help but wonder if they are all down here then who is watching their classes. He highly doubts all of their classes have lunch at this time. Considering the day has only just begun.

"He is a very good singer," Stephen says and the kids not excitedly.

"Yes he is and he'll only sing for the students, never the teachers or parents. We've been trying to get him to do the music for our school play but he never answers," another student says and Stephen smiles. Even students not in his class seem to love him. As far he is concerned that's a good sign in a teacher.

“Alright now back to the lesson,” Stephen says when the music's over and the teachers have dispersed. The kids behave well enough and Stephen is proud at the work they did. Which makes him wonder…

...Why is Tony teaching kindergarten when his credentials scream that he should be a professor at a big name college?

It’s a mystery that Stephen wants to solve.


	3. Chapter 3

“Tony I saved you a seat,” Thor says patting the seat in question which would make sure he was the only one next to him would be Thor. Tony smiles at him from the doorframe of the teacher’s lounge.

 

“Or you could sit next to me,” the sandy blonde man from earlier, who Stephen now knows is Clint Barton the gym teacher, says.

 

“Sorry guys I’m not staying. I just came down to grab Rhodey’s water bottle. I have to take a look at his chair,” Tony says.

 

“Does he often let you look at his chair?” Thor asks.

 

“I...Yeah,” Tony says and Stephen can sense there is something else to the story and is about to ask but suddenly he is escaping out of the room and Rhodey rolls in shortly after Tony leaves and goes to the fridge and opens it and pulls out two tupperware containers.

 

“Tony is looking for you,” Clint says.

 

“I know, and I also know how he is when he works on something. Which means I knew he’d forget his lunch. He’s constantly forgetting to eat and sleep,” Rhodey says settling the two containers on his lap before rolling out of the room. 

 

“So, how long have you guys been trying to get with Tony?” Stephen asks sipping his tea.

 

“Since we each started here years ago,” Loki says.

 

“And none of you ever made a move?” Stephen asks raising an eyebrow.

 

“We kinda nearly burnt down the school last time we tried that,” Clint says.

 

“How?” Stephen asks staring at the men in front of him.

 

“Well, school was over for the day. All the students had gone home and Thor was about to ask Tony out. So, Loki locked him in his classroom. I locked the doors to the stairwell to keep Thor out. Bucky, the third grade teacher, locked Nat and I in here. Steve, the art teacher, pushed Bucky into Bruce’s classroom, now your classroom, when he was working with a bunsen burner,” Clint says.

 

“From that day on Nat has banned us from asking Tony out until we can agree on one person to do it. Which as you can see from the story we can’t do,” Clint says.

 

“And he still hasn’t figured out that you all like him?” Stephen asks shocked, because honestly that whole thing isn’t very subtle and neither was the display this morning.

 

“Look man, Tony is smart, like super smart, like Einstein smart. But he is dumb,” Clint says.

 

“I don’t think he’s dumb. I would say he is innocent if a bit naive. It’s...sweet,” Loki says and the others nod.

 

“Yeah, sweet is the word I’d use,” Clint says and a glance at the clock has them scurrying to meet their classes as they come back from recess. Stephen glances over and sees three teachers he’s hasn’t met yet. One is a woman who must be the Natasha that instigated the time of peace and the other two, men, one blonde and one a brunette they must be the Bucky and Steve that Clint had mentioned.

 

“Hello, I’m Stephen Strange, the new science teacher,” he says and the three look at him.

 

“Natasha,” the woman says.

 

“Steve,” the blonde says.

 

“James, but people here call me Bucky,” the brunette says.

 

“I take it Clint passed along the rule regarding a certain teacher,” Natasha says and he nods.

 

“Good,” she says and then motions her kids towards the staircase. 

 

“She is scary,” Steve says and Bucky nods and they head towards the stairs with Bucky’s class.

 

“Hi,” a tiny voice says and Stephen feels a tiny tug on his pant leg and looks down and he sees a young boy standing there looking up at him with big brown eyes covered by curling brown hair.

 

“Hello there, are you a duckling?” Stephen asks and the boy smiles and quacks making Stephen smile.

 

“Let’s get you back to your teacher,” Stephen says holding his hand and leading him over to where Tony is counting heads and when he sees the boy he relaxes.

 

“Peter, there you are. Don’t scare me like that,” Tony says and motions the child to his class.

 

“Thank you Dr. Strange,” he says.

 

“Stephen please,” Stephen says and Tony smiles softly and Stephen watches as Tony goes towards his classroom.

 

“You’ve got it as bad as everyone else does huh?” Rhodes says rolling over to him.

 

“Am I that obvious?” Stephen asks.

 

“No, but I’ve watched everyone else enough to know the signs,” Rhodes says before leading his class off.

 

Stephen returns to his classroom and reads over the lesson plan that Tony made for him. His handwriting is swirly and there are smiley faces dotting his ‘i’s and flowers on his ‘o’s and he smiles.

 

Even the man's handwriting is cute.

 

Stephen looks out into the hall as Tony helps each student pack their backpacks.

 

Others be damned. Stephen is going to ask him out.

 

What's the worst that could happen?


	4. Chapter 4

“A tad bit tighter,” Stephen says and Tony wraps the bandage around his wrist slightly tighter, lip bitten between his teeth in concentration. 

He’s gorgeous like this as well.

“How exactly did you hurt your wrist walking down the hall?” Tony asks looking up through his lashes and Stephen has to suppress a gasp.

“I believe I whacked my hand into the hallway lockers when I was walking down the hall,” Stephen says remembering being shoved back into his classroom and hitting his hand on the desk.

“And the soaked pants?”

“Water fountain accident,” Stephen says remembering slipping in water.

“The tear in your pants?”

“Exposed nail.”

“Stephen, don’t...look if someone is doing something here to hurt you...You have to let Coulson know so he can deal with the offender. Harassment of any kind is not okay,” Tony says tugging at the sleeve of his sweater and Stephen’s heart melts and he gently lifts Tony’s face with a hand on his chin.

“Tony, I swear that no one did anything to me. I am simply unlucky,” Stephen says.

“Are you sure?’ Tony akss and Stephen smiles and nods.

“Thank you for the concern. You have no idea how deeply touched I am that you are worried for me,” Stephen says and begins to lean in and Tony doesn’t seem to notice.

“Tony, there’s a man at the front desk looking for you,” Loki says knocking on the door and smirking at Stephen who is glaring.

“Who?”

“Said his name was Stone,” Loki says and Stephen can feel Tony stiffen up beside him and Loki’s face immediately softens and focuses on Tony.

“I said I didn’t know if you were here or not. Do you want me to say you aren’t here?” Loki asks.

“It’s fine I’ll talk with him,’ Tony says softly and gives the bandage one last check before standing.

“If you’re going to see Stone, he’s already gone Tones. When he saw me he took off,” Rhodey says and Stephen watches as Tony practically melts into his seat. Stephen immediately wants to wants to hold him close.

But he also wants to find out what this Stone man has done to Tony.

He wants to know a lot of things about Tony.

“Alright, you’re good to go Doc,” Tony says and clips the bandage into place and standing to grab his belongings.

Stephen and Loki walk Tony and by extension Rhodey to their van and wave goodbye and as Stephen starts to walk home when Clint, Bucky, Steve, Thor, and Loki block his way.

“We need to talk,” Clint says arms crossed over his chest.


	5. Chapter 5

“Those are usually words said before someone gets hurt,” Stephen says as he is led towards a house across the street from the school.

 

“Uh...I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be going to a secondary location,” Stephen says dryly but he follows them up the steps and into the house to find a man he’s never seen before standing at a stove cooking something.

 

“Hey Bruce,” Clint says and Stephen stares at the man who position he is substituting for.

 

“Hello Clint, who’s this?” Bruce asks looking at Stephen.

 

“This is Stephen, he’s been substituting for you. Apparently he’s also into Tony,” Clint says and Bruce smiles.

 

“Welcome to the club,” Bruce says then eyes the damage from his attempts to ask Tony out.

 

“You tried to ask Tony out, didn't you?” Bruce says and Stephen finds himself nodding.

 

“Yeah...that doesn't work out well,” Bruce says and holds up his bandaged arm.

 

“I said I was sorry,” Bucky and Steve say at the same time and Bruce rolls his eyes at them but his smile stays in place.

 

“Why am I here?” Stephen asks, the uncertainty grating on his nerves.

 

“Okay. We all admit to having an interest in Tony, right?” Clint asks and they all share a look and nod, including Bruce.

 

“Okay. Therefore, we all care about his safety, right?” Clint asks and they all nod.

 

“Okay, so to catch up the people who weren't there when shit went down... Tiberius Stone paid our favorite Kindergarten teacher a visit today. I don't know who the guy is, but I have Tasha asking her friends in the FBI about him,” Clint says and Stephen watches as Steve and Thor both tense.

 

“Wait...you know this man?” Loki asks.

 

“Know is a strong word. We were here originally along with Tony when he first started here. Anyway his first day here this guy Stone shows up demanding to talk to Tony. They go off to the school yard and they start arguing. Stone leaves in a huff and still comes sometimes. None of us have any idea what he wants but Tony sends him leaving every time,” Clint says and his phone chimes and he pulls it out.

 

“It says here that Stone is the owner of a tech company. What would he want with Tony?” Clint says.

 

“One of his degrees is in mechanical engineering,” Bruce says and they all stare at him.

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“We decided to compare,” Bruce says with a shrug before plating the food and passing plates of food to each of them.

 

“Okay, so he's probably trying to get Tony to work for him,” Cint says and he leaves the relief of knowing his isn't an ex unsaid.

 

“Yes...but what do we do?” Steve asks.

 

“We play keep away. If Stone is at the desk we pretend Tony stepped out or went to a meeting or something. We don't let Stone near him,” Clint says.

 

“And what about the elephant in the room?” Stephen asks.

 

“Elephant?” Thor asks.

 

“The fact that all of us would do anything to be with Tony?” Stephen asks.

 

“We put that on the back burner. His safety is our main priority,” Clint says and they nod and when their food is done they go to their homes. 

 

The next day, Saturday thank God, Stephen goes to the grocery store. His cupboards are unbearably bare.

 

“Rhodey, Pep, enough with the veggies. You'll turn me into a rabbit at this rate,” Stephen hears a familiar voice say and he peeks around the corner into the next aisle and sees Tony standing there with Rhodes and a redhead in heels that could stab a man in the heart.

 

“Tony, smoothies and coffee are not a proper diet. You need vegetables and proteins and all that good stuff,” Rhodes says.

 

“As a doctor I am inclined to agree with them,” Stephen says deciding to make himself known. Unfortunately, Tony jumps nearly a foot in the air, dropping the boxes of cereal he was holding.

 

“I'm so sorry! Let me pick that up,” Stephen says and narrowly avoids smacking their heads together when they both lunge to get the boxes.

 

“Here,” Stephen says and puts the boxes in the cart.

 

“Thanks Stephen,” Tony says with a smile and says, “this is Pepper.”

 

“A pleasure,” she says with a smile. Stephen smiles and then they say they have to go. Stephen nods sad to see Tony go.

 

“I'll see you around Strange,” Tony says with a grin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My contribution to the Ironstrange Discord weekly challenge "Earth Day."

Monday morning Stephen walks towards school and sees Tony talking to a man with a cover on his face. Stephen tenses ready to defend Tony when he sees Tony smile and laugh at the man.

“Victor Von Doom. He teaches at that private school over on Main Street. On days when Rhodey doesn't come in he gives Tony a ride,” Clint says.

“They seem awfully friendly,” Stephen says and bites his lip. It's not his place to care about who Tony is close to.

“They are. Supposedly they went to the same boarding school when they were kids,” Clint says.

“Why does he hide his face?” Stephen asks.

“His mother was taken hostage. His face got scars while he was trying to save her,” Clint says.

“And did he?”

“I hope so,” Clint says and they get closer they can hear the conversation.

“Tony. You should switch schools. Stone wouldn’t be able to get near you. Our security guards would kick him and Hammer to the curb and walk you to your car,” he hears the man say.

“And Rhodey? I give him a ride home,” Tony says.

“I would be more than happy to give both of you a ride,” Doom says.

“Ah, but then I would need to let you know where I live,” Tony says.

“Yes, I know. The fewer people who know where you live the better,” Doom says.

“Thanks again for covering for Rhodey today. I know it’s your day off,” Tony says.

“It is my pleasure. It is not everyday his mother is able to visit and I respect his love for her,” They hear Doom say before looking up and eyeing Stephen and Clint.

“It would seem two of your friends wish to speak with you. I’ll get your student’s surprise from the car,” he says going over to a frankly too expensive car.

“Hey, how are the war wounds?” Tony says.

“What?” Stephen asks and Tony’s eyes widen.

“Your hand? I had to bandage it...It was a joke,” Tony says kicking at an imagined piece of dirt and Stephen feels bad.

“Hey Tony, the gym just got a nerf archery set. You want to try it out with us after final bell?” Clint asks.

“I’m not very good with weapons, even the foam kind,” Tony says eyes widening even more.

“Okay, do you want to just come and hang out? You can watch us use them or we could all go out and get coffee or something,” Clint says and Stephen watches Tony bite his lip.

“I guess I can come and watch you guys play around,” Tony says and they Turn when they hear Doom coming back holding a box with soil and flowers in it and a bag filled with what seem to be canvas flower pots?

“What’s going on here?” Clint asks leaning down to smell the flowers and then jumps away as he nearly gets a face full of dirt when Doom shifts.

Stephen can’t tell if it was an accident or not.

“I’m going to let the kids plant flowers in biodegradable flower pots in honor of Earth day,” Tony says with a bright smile.

“Are you sure it’s safe to let kindergartners mess around with soil?” Stephen asks and Tony holds up plastic tops.

“These allow the flowers to grow and adults to water them but the soil doesn’t get out of them. It’s perfect,” Tony says and Clint holds the door open so Doom can bring the flowers to Tony’s classroom. Stephen discreetly examines the entire room. Along the door frame there are robots made out of construction paper by the kids. 

There are bulletin board with pictures of the kids dressed in silly costumes and making silly faces and Tony is there dressed like a bunny.

It’s cute.

“Clint can you help me with the table?” Tony asks and they move a table to the back of the room and Doom lays the box of flowers and the bag of pots on the table and then steps back and wipes his hands off.

“They smell really nice,” Stephen says and Tony beams and starts setting everything up.

“I hope the kids like the flowers, the best part is these flowers don’t produce much pollen. Which means they shouldn’t have a problem, even though none of my students are allergic to pollen. I triple checked,” Tony says and Stephen admires his attention to detail. They look up when Loki comes walking past the doorway a pile of books in his hands.

“What’s with the books?” Tony asks.

“Tomorrow is National Book Day. These are for my students,” Loki says.

“Do you want to store them in here? This way the kids can be surprised?” Tony asks and Loki nods and he puts the books in the supply closet.

“Let’s go get our kids,” Tony says and they head out.


	7. Chapter 7

“I don’t like him,” Stephen mutters to Loki as they watch Doom and Tony are chatting in the corner of the gym. School had let out a few minutes earlier and they had all made their way to the gym to try out the archery equipment.

“Everyone thinks that at first. But Doom is just a close friend to Tony. He’s actually, according to Tony, crushing on this guy named Reed that works at his school. Not that he would ever admit to it. The two argue like no one’s business. You should have seen then at the annual teachers baseball game. You could hear them from the parking lot,” Loki says and Tony smacks Doom’s upper arm with the back of his hand and Stephen is still not convinced but he’s not going to treat Tony any different than normal.

The man is no his property or anything.

“Tony, are you sure you don’t want to give this stuff a try?” Clint asks coming out with the foam archery equipment. Stephen watches as Tony flinches softly and Doom puts a calming hand on his arm and Stephen wonders what is up with this whole situation because why would Tony be afraid of toy weapons and not want anyone to know where he lives? It makes no sense.

“Yeah I’m fine. I’ll live vicariously through Victor. Make sure to get a bullseye. Our reputation is at stake,” Tony says with a forced grin that Doom doesn’t seem to be buying, much like Stephen isn’t.

“Tony, we can leave if you do not feel comfortable. I know how you feel about weapons,” Stephen hears Doom whisper and he can’t hear the rest of the conversation as Clint shouts in excitement as he makes a bullseye.

“Nicely done feather head. My turn,” Natasha says and she makes her shot and while it is not as dead on as Clint’s was it is still pretty close.

“Well done, let me try,” Thor says and somehow convinces Loki to stand with an apple on his head and Stephen passes the man a set of lab goggles. They may be goofing off but that doesn’t mean they need to be unsafe. They’re teachers, they should know better after all.

Thor’s shot goes wide and hits the board two feet away from his head. Loki sees how badly his brother missed and smirks as they switch places. Loki exams the bow and then shoots the arrow off and smiles as the apple is knocked off of Thor’s head and he grins and he hands the set off to Steve before picking up the apple and taking a bite and throwing the apple up into the air and catching it and biting it again.

“No fair, now I can’t knock anything off Bucky’s head,” Steve says and Loki grins and Tony tosses Steve a baseball. Underhanded and Steve tosses it to Bucky and he balances it on his head and Steve takes aim and shoots and it slightly taps it and it goes rolling off the side and lands on his foot and he kicks it and knocks the bow out of Steve’s hand.

“Whoo, too slow Stevie,” Bucky says and scoops the toy up and they switch places and he levels it at Steve’s head and then shoots and it practically splits his perfect hair down the middle and Tony grins and then Doom takes a turn and manages to shoot a heart onto the board and a bullseye in the center.

“Whoo, nice Vicky,” Tony grins and the door opening draws his attention and hops up excitedly.

“Brucie!” Tony squeals and launches himself at the man who had just come in and hugs him. Stephen notices that everyone tenses up when Tony hugs him but then they quickly calm themselves before he can notice anything.

“Hey Tony, how you doing?” 

“Better now that you’re here,” Tony says and Bruce turns bright red and then it’s his turn at his turn at the bullseye. 

“I don’t know how well I’ll do,” Bruce says and he shoots it and it ends up breaking one of the lights and they dive for cover as glass rains down on them. 

Stephen moves without thinking and protects Tony with is coat and when the glass starts falling bruce is freaking out like he’s in trouble and he’s going to lose his job. 

“Get Brucie out of here and calm him down. I’ll handle fixing the light,” Tony whispers to Stephen and before anyone knows what happens they are all locked out of the gym, sitting in the hallway.

“What’s going on? What is Tony doing in there?” Stephen asks as Thor comforts Bruce quietly. It takes half an hour but suddenly Tony has opened the door and let them back in. The light is fixed and all the glass is gone.

“Tony, are you secretly a magician or a miracle worker?” Steve asks and Tony blushes and shakes his head.

“I just didn’t want Bruce to get in trouble he says as Clint puts the equipment away and they go home.

But Stephen still has more questions about their seemingly innocent little kindergarten teacher. 

He really has to get around to researching him.


	8. Chapter 8

“Have none of you thought about researching Tony before? I mean the man has a tech mogul hunting him down. He won’t let anyone know where he lives, he has like seven PhDs but teaches kindergarten. Things aren’t adding up,” Stephen says in the teacher’s lounge the next day.

“It never came up, and it’s hardly our place to invade his personal life, even if we do have an interest in him,” Loki says.

“Besides Nat tried one time when we went swimming one time and we saw this bunch of scars on Tony’s chest. The man is a ghost. There’s nothing about him anywhere. The only Stark we could find is a Howard Stark and there doesn’t seem to be a connection,” Clint says.

“And none of you find that odd?” Stephen asks and the others shrug.

“Yeah we find it weird, but there isn’t much we can do. We have to respect Tony’s privacy and I know that there are a lot of things that don’t add up but we have to be careful. This could put Tony in danger because obviously he doesn't want someone to know where he is,” Clint says.

“Yes, I know. But…” Stephen says and stops as Rhodey comes in lunch balanced on his lap as he opens the fridge and slides it in there.

“You know, stopping a conversation as soon as Tony or I enter the room isn't going to do anything except make Tony worry you were talking about him behind his back. Which will cause your relationship more harm than good,” Rhodey says and they at least have the decency to look embarrassed. 

“Sorry, we know it’s rude but we’re the only people we can talk to about this since Tony isn't interested in any of us,” Clint says.

“Says who?” Rhodey asks.

“He never responds to any of our flirting,” Clint says.

“Because he doesn't realize you're flirting with him. He thinks you're being friendly. You've see how he is with me. That's what he thinks friendship is. He needs to be hit over the head with the knowledge that you're flirting with him and want to go out with him and not just for sex,” Rhodey says and leaves the room leaving the two teachers there looking dumbfounded.

“You guys okay? You look like you just made a great discovery,” Tony says walking into the lounge with a brace on his wrist.

“What the heck happened to you?” Stephen demands shooting up and trying to immediately get a look at what happened.

“I'm fine Stephen. I just got into a little accident with my neighbor's dog's tennis ball and the stairs in my apartment building. It's just a sprain. I've had worse,” Tony says trying to pull his hand away but Stephen won’t let him.

“Tony, this is more than a sprain,” Stephen says as the arm is pulled out of his hands and Tony takes a step back and slips his lunch into the fridge.

“Tony…” Stephen says.

“I said I’m fine Stephen, please,” Tony says eyes wide and he runs out of the room and goes to his classroom.

Stephen spends the day continually glancing down the hall towards Tony’s classroom. The door is closed and he can only see flashes of the man through the small glass window in the door and when the man has to take them to the gym or the cafeteria. 

It’s when Tony brings the kids to Stephen’s classroom that Stephen pulls Tony into the hall and feels bad when the man watches him closely and suspiciously.

“I’m sorry for this morning. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed you for information,” Stephen says feeling wrong for not insisting Tony tell him what actually happened because there is no way he is willing to believe that Tony’s injury is due to a tennis ball and a flight of stairs. There is something off and Stephen needs to find out but not if it will upset Tony.

“It’s fine Stephen. I was just over reacting. We’re friends and you were just worried about me and I flew off the handle,” Tony says and focuses on something over Stephen’s shoulder. Eugene give Peter his toy back,” Tony says and Stephen watches the boy in question hand the stuffed spider back to him and Peter holds it close and wanders back to his seat and Stephen smiles. It’s like he has a sixth sense for when his kids need him and it is adorable. 

Stephen is leaving the school later that evening when he can see Tony and Rhodey heading for the parking lot and Stephen is about to call out when a limo that looks like it costs more than his entire apartment pulls up in front of them and Tony flinches back and Rhodey rolls in front of him. 

Stephen watches as Tony suppresses a shudder and climbs into the limo with a few soft words whispered to Rhodey and then the limo is taking off and Rhodey is left there alone before he pulls out his phone and calls someone and Stephen watches as the red headed woman from the supermarket appears and drive Rhodey home while the two seem to debate heatedly about, Stephen can only assume, what just happened. 

Stephen stares at where his coworkers had been and immediately heads to Bruce’s house and sends a message in the group chat to meet him there. They need to figure out what’s happening with their friend and they need to figure out if Tony is okay.

Stephen hates the idea that Tony might be in danger or might be in some sort of trouble.

If they can’t be with Tony they can at least make sure that he is safe and happy. 

And to do that they need to know all of Tony’s little secrets. 

For his own safety.


	9. Chapter 9

Stephen walks into the teachers lounge on Monday morning to see Tony sitting at the table, a frown on his face. He looks sad but other than that he doesn’t seem to have been harmed in any that Stephen can see.

Stephen and the other teachers had spent the entire weekend looking for any information about Tony that they could find out. All they could find was information about Howard Stark and Howard doesn’t have a son or a brother so there was a way that Tony would have any connection to him.

“Hello Stephen,” Tony says with a smile.

“Hello, how was your weekend?”

“Same old, same old,” Tony says.

“Really? Nothing interesting happened?” Stephen asks.

“I met up with someone I hadn’t seen in a while. But that’s about it,” Tony says his face turning down and he looks lost in thought.

“Oh, who?” Stephen asks.

“Just someone,” Tony says taking a sip from a coffee larger than his arm. It’s frightening how much coffee the man drinks. Stephen is about to ask him about the fancy car but suddenly Tony is standing and leaving the room to pick up his students. 

It isn’t until lunch that Stephen gets any new information. Stephen goes out to the old greenhouse on the edge of campus to eat during his lunch break. He’s sitting on a bench in the back where the roses some of the kids wanted to plant are located when he can hear footsteps outside.

“Why did you have to get in contact with me? Hammer and Stone had no idea where I was until you sent me that email at my school address!” Tony is shouting and Stephen peeks out from a gap in the gas and can see a man that looks like Tony and who Stephen recognizes as Howard Stark.

“There is no way that they could have found you through my email. No one could have hacked my account,” Howard says.

“Oh right because you are the smartest person in the world,” Tony says and Stephen hears the sound of a slap.

“Look here son, I spent millions of dollars making sure that you never existed so you could have a normal life. I now have no one to take over my company when I die and I’ve lost my second best weapons developer. All so you could go play schoolhouse!” Howard shouts as Tony holds his cheek where Howard had slapped him.

“Well you’re the one who fucked up! That email led them to me and now I can’t go a day without being called at work. Stone showed up on Friday and I had to get into a car with him. He tried to take me to his company building. I was almost kidnapped and what did you say to me when I called you? You said that you would talk to him. Talk, Howard. He kidnapped me and you said you would talk to him? If I was still working in weapons development then you wouldn’t be talking to him you would have crushed his company to the ground!” Tony shrieks at him and Stephen is shocked. He never thought that Tony would have that kind of fire in him.

“Then run away again. Get a new name, a new number. Whatever it is that you do, but don’t get me involved. I am tired of wasting my money on you,” Howard says and heads off towards the parking lot, probably to get into his car.

“Mr. Stark?” Stephen hears a small voice ask and he sees Peter coming over with some flowers. And the only way Stephen can describe it is that Tony completely transforms. He smiles and bends down and looks like nothing had happened. 

“Hey Petey, what are you up to?” Tony asks.

“Picking flowers for Harry and MJ!” Peter says.

“Aww that’s nice of you. I’m sure they’ll love them. But I really think you should get back to Miss Hill the lunch aid. She must be looking for you,” Tony says and shows the boy back to where his class is waiting and Stephen sneaks out of the greenhouse and sends the information to the group chat. 

When he heads back into the school he sees Tony waiting outside his classroom.

“Hey Tony, how are you doing?” Stephen asks.

“I know that you heard me and Howard’s little chat,” Tony says and turns away not looking him in the eye.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s okay. I’m not so blind as to know that you guys are worried about me. I find it very sweet,” Tony says.

“You’re right, we do care about you deeply. We don’t want you to be in danger or hurt. I’d also like to apologize. I told the others about what I overheard,” Stephen says.

“At least you told me. I’ve known people who wouldn’t care about anything to do with me, or would even use that conversation against me,” Tony says with a smile.

“I’m sorry that you’ve had to know people like that,” Stephen says wanting nothing more than to hug Tony and kiss him better and protect him the world but he can’t. It’s not his place.

“Do you want to tell me about all this?” Stephen asks.

“Not right now. After class we can go grab something to eat and talk about it so I don’t have to keep repeating myself,” Tony sighs and Stephen nods and they each head to their classes.


End file.
